Clothes drier attachment



May 8, 1956 J. M. MITCHELL CLOTHES DRIER ATTACHMENT Filed March 51, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR .1. Macao/v44 M/7U/l-L L ATTORNEYS May 8, 1956 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed March 51, 1953 INVENTOR ATTORNEY United States Patent James Macdonald Mitchell, Old Lyme, Conn. Application March 31, 1 953,-SerialNo.- 345,963 3 Claims. or. III-108) This invention relates to clothes driersand consists of an attachment for facilitating the hanging of wash on the drier.

Avery widely favored type of clothes drier is the one commonly referred to as a clothes tree. It consists of a vertical ma'st supported in the ground and carrying at its upper end a plurality of arms extending upwardly and outwardly from the center of the mast and rotatable as a unit thereon. Each of these arms has a plurality of apertures evenly spaced along the length thereof. Ropes are passed through the apertures and constitute the lines for hanging the wash to dry. The mast is usually mounted at its lower end in a socket that is permanently located in the ground and that permits of the mast being removed in order that the wash drier may be stored when not being used. I

In use of the described drier it iscustomary to place a basket of wash on the ground and to individually remove each article of wash from the basket and to hang the article selected on the line before removing the next. This makes it necessary for the person hanging the wash to repeatedly bend over to get the wash out of the basket and to then straighten up all the way to hang the wash on the lines. Since the bending is almost to the ground, it is quite arduous for a person not accustomed to much physical aetivity and becomes quite tiring before all the wash ishung.

Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to relieve the strain that necessarily attends the hanging of the wash on a tree-type clothes drier as a result of the repetitious bending and straightening up of the human body by the provision of means to support the wash basket in aneasily accessible position.

It is a further object of the invention to provide an attachment for the clothes drier supporting the wash basket, that permits the wash basket to be selectively positioned so as to be most conveniently accessible to the person hanging the wash.

It is also an object of the invention to make the clothes dn'er attachment of a simple construction with parts that facilitate installation of the device on the mast, and to make provision for exchangeable or universal parts for associating it with the mast, so that the invention may, by the selection of appropriately sized parts, be attached to a mast of any size. The device is thus of universal application.

Another object of the invention is to provide extensible parts on the clothes drier attachment, whereby the positioning of the wash basket support may be chosen so as to locate the basket in the most accessible location with respect to the lines on which the wash is being hung. When the drier is not in use, the extensible parts may be telescoped into the part of the attachment mounted on the mast, thus reducing the size thereof and making for easier storage.

The invention is best illustrated in the accompanying drawings in which:

The

Fig.- 1- shows a clothes drier of the tree type with the invention attached,

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the attachment with the mast insection, takenon the line 22 in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3- is a sectional view of the attachment, taken onthe line 3-3-in-Fig; 2

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the attachment, similar to Fig. 2, but showing the extensible parts telescoped within the part attached to the mast,

Fig. 5 is a sectional view showing. certain details, taken on the line 5-5 in Fig. 3, and

Fig. 6 is a sectional view showing the wash basket supporting platform, taken on the line 66 in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 1, there is shown the clothes drier attachment of this invention, installed on the mast Z of a tree-type drier. The top of the mast 2 carries a bracket 4 having four laterally extending yokes: 6 spaced apart on the bracket. The line supporting arms 8 are pivoted at their inner ends in yokes 6 by pivot pins 10. Centrally disposed arms 12 are pivoted to the arms 8 by pins 14, and maintain the line supporting arms in their outermost position. When. the clothes drier is not in use, the arms 8 may be folded inwardly about their lower ends to a vertical position and the mast 2 may be removed from its ground support, for storage until it is next used.

The clothes-drier attachment of this invention is adapted to be secured to the mast 2 of the drier at a selected vertical position thereon. that makes it easily accessible to the user. There is provided a yoke 16 which is attached near its center to the mast. The yoke 16 consists of arms 13 disposed on opposite sides of the mast and an end cross-piece 20 connecting the arms at one end of the assembly, the parts being assembled by bolts 22. On the inside surface of each of the yoke arms 18 there are secured by any suitable means, a pair of spaced strips 24, which, with the inside surface of the yoke arm, define a channel fora purpose tobe described. The yoke 16 is attached to the mast by two pairs of split blocks 26 fitting between the strips 24 on the yoke arms 18. Each block has a semi-circular cut out portion 28 on one edge, adapted to fit the surface of the most. In assembling and attaching the invention on the mast 2, the blocks 26' are positioned between the mast and the yoke arms, and bolts 30 are inserted through the'arm's and the blocks to secure the assembly in position on the mast. The cut-out portions 28 of the blocks 26 merely fit the mast loosely so that the yoke may be rotated on the mast. This fit may be adjusted by the bolts 30 so as to give a free fit, permitting rotation of the yoke on the mast as aforementioned. In order to position the attachment vertically on the mast 2, a split collar 32 is secured to the mast below the yoke 16 and the blocks 26 Bolts 34 are received in apertures in the collar 32 and are tightened to lock the collar 32 to the mast, locating the yoke 16 in a fixed verti cal position on the mast, and supporting it in that position.

Telescoped within the yoke 16 is a second yoke 36 comprising arms 38 received within the channels formed on the inside surfaces of arms 18 of the first mentioned yoke. The ends of yoke arms 38 disposed inwardly of yoke 16 are connected by crosspieces 40 to which the arms are attached by any suitable screw or bolt means 42. A pair of longitudinally extending strips 44 is attached to the inside surface of each of the yoke arms 38 in spaced relation so as to define a channel with the inside surface of each of the arms 38. The yoke 36 is slidably received within the channels of the yoke 16. The sliding movement of the yoke 36 into the yoke 16 is limited by crosspiece 20, while its extending movement out of the yoke 16 is limited by the cross-pieces 40 abutting against the mast 2.

A third yoke 46 is received within the channels on the arms 38 of yoke 36. The yoke 46 comprises arms 48 sliding within the channels in yoke 36. The arms 48 are connected at their outwardly disposed ends by a crosspiece 50 and a second cross-piece 52 spaced inwardly from the ends of arms 48. Suitable screw or bolt means may be used to secure the arms 48 to cross-pieces 50 and 52. The ends of the arms 48 received within the yoke 36 are open so as to permit free sliding movement thereof within the yoke 36 and past the mast 2. Thus the clothes drier attachment of the present invention comprises a first yoke 16 fixed to the mast 2, a second yoke 36, telescoped within the yoke 16 and slidable relatively thereto for a limited distance, and a third yoke 46 telescoped within the yoke 36 and slidable relatively thereto for a distance limited only by the necessity of supporting the arms 48 of the yoke 46 within the yoke 36.

Attached to the yoke 46 is a platform 54 for receiving the wash basket. The platform comprises vertical braces 56 attached to the cross-pieces 50, 52 and horizontally extending members 58 secured to the tops of braces 56. The wash basket supporting platform is defined by slats 60 attached to and extending between the members 58. The parts of the platform 54 are most easily assembled with screws or like means. A receptacle 62 is provided on the end of the yoke 46 to hold the clothes pins in a convenient position and make them readily accessible.

It is desirable that the elements for the clothes drier attachment be of a light weight construction so as not to put any exccssive strain on the mast. This may be accomplished by constructing the attachment of aluminum or if additional strength is required an aluminum alloy can be used. Of course, if economy is desired in the manufacture of the clothes drier attachment, it may be made from wood, which is satisfactory for devices of this type.

In use, the respective yokes are extended to the desired distances necessary to accommodate the wash basket in a convenient position with respect to the lines on the clothes drier, and may be adjusted by sliding of the yokes as the wash is hung. The mounting of the clothes drier attachment permits it to be rotated on the mast so as to make all sections of the line equally accessible. The receptacle 62 permits keeping the clothes pins right at hand, adding another convenience to the ordinarily troublesome task of hanging the clothes.

The clothes drier attachment has been described in a preferred embodiment, but it is apparent that various modifications may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. It is accordingly not intended that the invention be limited except as set forth in the claims which follow.

I claim:

1. An article supporting attachment for a clothes drier having a vertical mast mounting radiating arms carrying a series of clothes hanging lines each disposed at a different distance laterally of the axis of the mast comprising an elongated member having a pair of opposing spaced arms adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of a mast and extending laterally to opposite sides thereof and having means for detachably and rotatably securing the member to the mast at a selected height beneath the clothes hanging lines, extensible clothes container supporting means received between said arms, means on said arms supporting said extensible means for lateral movement relative to the mast and adapted to be selectively supported by the elongated member in different positions beneath the clothes hanging lines of a clothes drier at different distances laterally outwardly of the clothes drier mast.

2. An article supporting attachment for a clothes drier having a vertical mast mounting radiating arms carrying a series of clothes hanging lines each disposed at a different distance laterally of the axis of the most comprising an elongated member having a pair of opposing spaced arms adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of the mast and extending laterally to opposite sides thereof and having means for detachably and rotatably securing the member to the mast at a selected height beneath the clothes hanging lines, a second elongated member received between said arms, clothes container supporting means carried by the second elongated member, channel means on said arms facing the mast supporting said second elongated member for lateral movement relative to the mast, and said second elongated member adapted to be selectively supported by the first elongated member in different positions beneath the clothes hanging lines of a clothes drier at different positions laterally outwardly of the clothes drier mast.

3. An article supporting attachment for a clothes drier having a vertical mast mounting radiating arms carrying a series of clothes hanging lines each disposed a different distance laterally of the axis of the mast, comprising, an elongated member having a pair of opposing spaced arms adapted to be disposed on opposite sides of a mast and extending laterally to opposite sides thereof and having means for detachably and rotatably securing the member to the mast at a selected height beneath the clothes hanging lines, a second elongated member comprising spaced parallel arms received between the arms of the first elongated member, channel means on the arms of the first elongated member facing the mast supporting said second elongated member for sliding movement relative thereto, a third elongated member mounting a clothes container supporting platform slidably received between the arms of the second elongated member for lateral movement relative to the mast and supported by said second elongated member in different positions beneath the clothes hanging lines of a clothes drier at different distances laterally outwardly of the clothes drier mast.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,096,327 Thorniley May 12, 1914 1,129,960 Conning et al. Mar. 2, 1915 1,220,578 Wise Mar. 27, 1917 1,386,151 Brewer Aug. 2, 1921 1,754,006 Anderson Apr. 8, 1930 1,887,924 Evans Nov. 15, 1932 2,279,622 Hurd Apr. 14, 1942 2,530,123 Ingwer Nov. 14, 1950 FOREIGN PATENTS 4,929/26 Australia Nov. 26, 1926 

